Block carrier



G. o. INGRAM 'BLOCK CARRIER Sept. 4, 1956 Filed June 25, 1953 EU Mw w I 0 U o w n Y r w V1- .Am :J E y w B 9 D 2 3 4 7- .0 W u z w w .m mmcb ll l l w.i w

United States Patent BLOCK CARRIER George 0. Ingram, Toledo, Ohio Application June 23, 1953, Serial No. 363,579

4 Claims. (Cl. 294-97) This invention relates to cement building block carriers, and an object is to produce a simple and efficient carrier of this type which can be readily applied to and grippingly engage a cement block to enable the same to be conveniently carried to the job where the block can be released by a manipulation of arelease rod on the carrier, and which can be easily adapted to fit different size blocks with a minimum of effort and time, thus providing a multi-purpose tool for ready application to the several commercial sizes of blocks.

Other objects and advantages reside in details of construction, arrangement and operation hereinafter described, and for purposes of illustration but not of limitation, embodiments of the invention are shown on the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is an end elevation of the block carrier; and

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the carrier shown on Figure 1.

The illustrated embodiment of the invention comprises a cement block carrier having a pair of laterally spaced parallel side plates a, the upper ends of which taper to the blunt end, as indicated at 23, and this end is joined by a handle 11a. A tie rod 13a connects the upper end portion of the plates 10a. At the lower end of each plate 10a is a pivoted arm 18a which has a toothed outer end projecting outwardly beyond the adjacent edge of the respective plate. Each arm 18a is pivoted at its inner end on a bolt 20a which can be mounted either in the innermost hole 24 or an outer hole 25, thereby to position the arms for different sized cement blocks. Each of the gripper arms 18a is mounted on the outside of the respective side plate 10a and pivotally connected on 180 at a point between the pivotal mounting thereof although closer to the pivotal mounting is a vertically disposed link 26, the upper end of which is connected to a transversely extending release rod 27, the end portion of which extends through vertically elongate slots 28 in the upper portion of the side plates. Thus by manipulating the release rod 27, the gripper arms 18a may be swung upwardly in order to release the carrier from the cement block to which it is applied. Particularly as shown on Figure 2, the release rod 27 will be noted as being disposed directly beneath the handle 11a, so as to be in a convenient position for manipulation.

On the side edge of each of the plates 10a opposite to that from which projects the toothed end of the gripper arms is an inwardly bent elongate flange 29, extending at substantially right angles to the plane of the respective plate 10a. At the lower end portion Git-each flange 29 is a vertically elongate slot 30 of a size slidingly to receive the flat abutment plate 31 which hasan-"em larged head 32 disposed outside of the respect change.

29. A screw and wing nut assembly 33"disp' in a vertically elongate slot 34 in the; respective plate secures the abutment plate in its seat. ran e the elongate 70 outer edge of the head'32 abuts'agains't'one wall of the hole in the cement block, whereas the toothed end of the gripper arm 18a engages the other wall thereby to grip the block so that it can be carried from place to place.

As shown, there are three notches 35 in the upper edge of the abutment plate 31 so that the fastener assembly 33 can be secured in one or another of these notches according to the size cement block. Thus the head 32 may be extended outwardly away from the adjacent edge of the respective side plate 10a depending upon the size cement block which is to be carried. As above pointed out, further adjustment for accommodating the different size cement blocks may be eifected by shifting the pivotal mounting for the gripper arms 18a between the holes 24 and 25.

From the above, it is apparent that l have produced an exceedingly simple and efiicient tool which can be economically produced in the main from sheet metal stampings, inasmuch as both the side plates and the gripper arms can be formed from stampings. The multiusefulness of the carrier is of importance since it provides a single tool for carrying the various size commercial cement blocks, and obviates the necessity of providing different carriers for different sized blocks.

It is to be understood that numerous changes in details of construction, arrangement, operation and choice of materials may be effected without departing from the spirit of the invention, especially as defined in the appended claims.

" What I claim is:

1. A cement block carrier comprising a pair of laterally spaced side plates, a handle disposed between the upper ends of said side plates, a tie rod for securing said side plates in spaced relation, a gripper arm having a toothed outer end projecting beyond one edge of a plate and being pivoted at its inner end to the lower end of each plate, spaced holes in each plate enabling mounting of the arms in one or another position depending on the size cement block being carried, a link pivoted to each gripper arm, a release rod connecting the upper ends of said links for actuating same, each side plate having a vertically elongate slot to receive said rod, and means at the opposite edge of each plate to abut against an opposed portion of cement block to cooperate with the pivoted gripper arms.

2. A cement block carrier comprising a pair of laterally spaced side plates, a handle disposed between the upper ends of said side plates, a tie rod for securing said side plates in spaced relation, a gripper arm having a toothed outer end projecting beyond one edge of a plate and being pivoted at its inner end to the lower end of each plate, spaced holes in each plate enabling mounting of.

the arms in one or another position depending onthe size cement block being carried, a link pivoted to each gripper arm, a release rod connecting the upper ends of said links for actuating same, each side plate having a vertically elongate slot to receive said rod, and means at the opposite edge of each plate to abut against an opposed portion of cement block to cooperate with the pivoted gripper arms, said last means comprising an adjustable abutment plate for each side plate, and means for securing said abutment plate in position of adjustment.

3. A cement block carrier comprising a pair of laterally spaced side plates, a handle disposed between the upper ends of said side plates, a tie rod for securing said side plates in spaced relation, a gripper arm having a toothed outer end projecting beyond one edge of a plate and being pivoted at its inner end to the lower end of each plate,

arms in one or another position depending on the size cement block being carried, a link pivoted to each gripper arm, a release rod connecting the upper ends of said links for actuating same, each side plate having a vertically*'elongate slot to receive said rod, and means at the opposite edge of each plate to abut against an opposed portion of cement block to cooperate with the pivoted gripper arms, said last means comprising a slidable abutment plate for each side plate, an enlarged head on each plate projecting beyond the respective side plate, and fastener means for securing said abutment plate in the selected position.

4. A cement block carrier comprising a pair of laterally spaced side plates, a handle disposed between the upper ends of said side plates, a tie rod for securing said side plates in spaced relation, a gripper arm having a toothed outer end projecting beyond one edge of a plate and being pivoted at its inner end to the lower end of each plate, spaced holes in each plate enabling mounting of the arms in one or another position depending on the size cement block being carried, a link pivoted to each gripper arm, a release rod connecting the upper ends of said links for References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,100,019 Johnson June 16, 1914 2,437,485 Sonnenschien Mar. 9, 1948 2,558,114 Williams et a1 June 26, 1951 

